OVERVIEW & HISTORY

STILL BUILDING ON 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

In 1979, Mr. K.S. Kadar Pillai took the first steps in realizing the dream of owning his own company. In March of the same year, Mr. Pillai made the short journey from India to Kuwait to work for Taisei Corporation, a Japanese contractor with a construction contract with Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC). After working with Taisei for almost two years he joined an American company with a contract at the Mina Abdullah Refinery. Within three years time, Mr. Pillai had enough knowledge and the will power to venture out on his own and build his own legacy.

In 1984, he partnered with Juman Ashour, a Kuwaiti national. Together they used his experience in the market and started supplying materials to the oil sector in Kuwait. He soon added manpower supply as one of the company’s competencies and business flourished until the Iraqi invasion in 1990.

Upon his return to Kuwait in 1991, he partnered with the Late Mohammed Nasser Al Shimmari and together they formed Al Hokook International General Trading & Contracting Company W.L.L. Shortly after his return to Kuwait, business was flourishing and he quickly started amassing the funding needed to start the Kanoos Group of Companies (KGC). In 1993, KGC was born and quickly thereafter, real estate investments (land acquisitions) were made in Kerala, India. In 1994, KGC added a rubber plantation to its portfolio and in 1995, KGC entered the Hospitality industry and began building its first hotel in Kerala. This was also an important turning point for the company as it started the construction arm of KGC so that it could self-perform and build the hotel without the use of another contractor or construction company. The end of the 1990's was eventful for KGC, as we added much more real estate (land & building acquisitions) and also built a second hotel in Kerala.

In 2003, when the second gulf war began, Al Hokook International General Trading & Contracting Company W.L.L. partnered with a British company, IPBD Limited, to provide manpower to KBR in support of the US military and its mission in Iraq. The next few years were very profitable for KGC and in 2006, KGC decided to further expand its portfolio by partnering with Al-Zahawi Group to construct a state of the art steel manufacturing plant in Erbil, Iraq in Kurdistan.

Mr. Pillai attributes KGC's success in large measure to its policy of long term strategic investment in technological innovations, technical enhancement, adaptability and human resources. Based in Kochi, KGC's activities today transcend geographical boundaries, reaching six offices in six different countries. Over the last 25 years, we have developed into a versatile multinational organization, employing more than 3,000 people through locations in the Gulf Region, Europe and Asia.